Christmas Lunch

Everyone was able to make it this year so we celebrated our friendship and "connection" at our Christmas lunch hosted by Lisa. We had a healthy feast (well maybe not the desserts ...) some bubbly and lots of laughs as usual.

Kris Kringle was fun with everyone bringing something quite different and Colleen's Christmas Tree made of fabric and lollies being the talking point of the day I think.

Get Together at Anne's

We had a productive day when we got together at Anne's. Louise was finishing off her daughter's crochet skirt and Anne was knitting some more on a child's jumper. The others were busy too. Colleen brought us lots of stories, gorgeous fabrics to show off and a necklace each from Bali.

Leita was sewing up blocks galore on her latest quilt, inspired by a pattern and starter kit from Amitie. When she had a bunch sewn she trialled setting options. Which do you prefer? Stars or pinwheels?

Results of my sewing binge!

Finished.  Phew!  Sewing binge over the long weekend done.  Machines away.  This is what I did - one dress and two tops.

The dress is a pattern I bought from Ballarat Patchwork and is called the Claire Cami Dress.  You can make it any length from a short top to a long maxi dress.  I made mine knee length.  Perfect for one of those hot summer days that we're sure to get very soon.  I bought the fabric from that well known large fabric shop from their specials table.  Didn't want to spend too much money on the first dress in case I didn't like it.  And I actually ended up sewing the armhole facings on backwards too.  But ultimately I am very pleased with the result.  I can see myself making this pattern several more times.  My daughter has already requested one for Christmas.

The tops are New Look 6870.  The second top was made with the leftover fabric from the dress.  I bought too much and didn't want to waste it. These are tops number 4 and 5 from this pattern.  Love it when you find a pattern you can make over and over making each one just slightly different, in this case by changing the sleeves.

I have satisfied my dressmaking craving now.  And the quilt top is all but done too.  I love long weekends. :-)

Melbourne Cup weekend

I've got the borders sewn on and have started the applique bits.  There's just 12 so they won't take me long. 

Started my dressmaking projects.  Finished one top and started the dress.  Pictures to follow.
It's the Monday before the Melbourne Cup.  Everyone is in bed asleep despite being 10 am.  It's a long weekend for a lot of people. One of my daughters is wagging school.  Hubby has a holiday day, and the other daughter - well she's a uni student - every day she chooses to stay in bed - or not.  Melbourne is divided into two camps today - those who have to work - and those that can get away with staying in bed.  And of course all of Melbourne has tomorrow off, to drink and gamble (!)  Sewing is a much healthier way to spend your time, in fact why don't we have a public holiday dedicated to all things crafty? instead of a silly horse race? :-)

A national holiday dedicated to sewing, crafting, or reading.  A national stay in bed and relax day.  One day where we weren't allowed to even think of doing the dishes, but dedicate ourselves to the things we love to do.  I think we'd all be better off.

Friday Update

Thought it was time to post some photos of what we're making.  I've been auditioning borders for this quilt which I bought as a block of the month quite some time ago and am slowly finishing it off.  The above photo is of the border recomended on the pattern.  Too heavy I think and takes away from the central stitcheries which afterall should be the main focus.

I have decided on a much narrower black border and then another border in gold which matches the gold already in the quilt.  You can't see it too well here because the light wasn't good for photos this afternoon but I am much happier with this combination.  The gold fabric was a lucky find in my stash.  Looking forward to getting the top finished now and can't wait to try out the blanket stitch on my new machine to applique the finishing touches.  The quilting will have to wait though as this long weekend I have planned to make two tops and one simple sun-dress.  They're already cut out and waiting for me.

Louise showed us this finished top for a quilt she is making for her mother for Christmas.  She has finally found the right backing fabric and will now go full steam ahead on quilting straight lines with her walking foot.  (And maybe a little hand-stitching in the central squares for that extra special touch?)

And Anne did some knitting and showed us some pretty fabric she has cut out ready to make some pot-holders.
More project photos to come soon.  I must remember to carry my camera around more often!

Secret project unveiled!

We made this quilt for our friend Leita as a house warming present for her and her family.  They've just moved into a new house, and of course a house is not a home without a quilt!

We cut, pieced, sandwiched, and quilted in secret.  Over several months we had a lot of fun putting this quilt together.

It's a Joel Dewbury design called 'Pendant Quilt.'  Fabrics from GJs.  Quilted by me.

We finished off the binding on our weekend away.

And finally gave the quilt (and two matching cushions) to Leita on Saturday.  We hope it gives you many years of warmth and colour Leita!

Vickery Retreat - Alexandra

Taking the new machine through it's paces

The BSR free motion stitching function on this machine is a dream.  Have been playing around with it for a few weeks and now I don't know how I lived without it before.  I quilted quite a few quilts on my old mechanical machine and it did a good job, even if it did groan and tangle occasionally.  But this machine is so much easier to use.  It keeps the stitches even.  You just push the start button and all you have to worry about is guiding the fabric in the right direction - the machine does the rest. 
Yes - the start button - no foot control required when using the BSR.  Just perfect for uncoordinated me.  When free motion quilting with my old machine I always felt like I was playing that game where you try and rub your stomach and pat your head at the same time, or is that rub your head and pat your stomach?

This is a picture of some samples I've been playing with.  Some from the 365 days of quilting designs blog site. 
I haven't had a chance to play around with the other functions yet or the other feet or accessories.  Might take me a while, I'm still mesmerised by the possibilities of doodling with thread.
I wonder if you can do normal sewing without the foot control as well?

A new sewing machine - at last!

Yes, I've finally done it.  Bought myself a new sewing machine.  Those who know me well can finally sigh with relief.  I've been going to do it for years literally.  But it was never the right time, never the right price, never going to happen.  And then last year I bought a machine in haste trusting that the brand I had bought nearly 30 years ago would still be the best choice.  How wrong I was.  I was so disappointed with that machine that I sold it again on eBay.  (losing money in the process)  It was cheaply made and not at all comparable to my old machine.  I hate to use a cliche but I will - you get what you pay for.
And as fate would have it while I was in the sewing machine shop this morning I got chatting to another lady that had exactly the same problem with exactly the same machine.  We both ended up purchasing the same new Bernina.  I spent way more than I intended, but figure that this machine will see me out.  I'm not likely to buy another as this one has everything I need.  This one should last me for the next 30 years.
I just hope the family doesn't mind living on pasta and tinned tuna for the next 6 months. :-)

Quilting Bee for Charity

Yesterday we had a quilting bee at my place. We made QAYG blocks to send to Jan Mac, in country Victoria, who joins blocks into quilts (5 x 7 or 4 x 5 blocks each) and sends them to charities or for disaster relief appeals such as Queensland Cyclone and Victorian floods, and the Christchurch earthquake. She has been doing this for many years and is very well known, receiving blocks from all over Australia and also internationally.

During the afternoon and evening we sorted scraps into themes and cut squares of batting and backing and got cracking on making blocks. We made 18 all up and will keep going at our weekly GTGs or at home to add to the total.

"Feminine" theme:

"Young girl" theme:

"Manly" theme:

Friday update

Thisafternoon just the 3 of us (L and L) at my place.  I got stuck into finishing the cutting out for a scrap quilt I started a year ago.

3 diamonds for each tumbling block times 81 blocks equals... a lot of little pieces of fabric! Nine rows of nine or 10 rows of 8 - I haven't decided yet.  Plenty of time to think about it as this quilt will be hand stitched.

There's something wonderfully tactile about a pile of fabric cut and stacked neatly and ready to be stitched together.

Memories of Summer quilt

I was reminded today that I hadn't posted a photo of this quilt finished.  I made it for my sister and brother and law for their wedding.  I gave it to them last Christmas.  Over a year late!

The finished size was 207 x 207 which covered my queen-size bed nicely but in the end was much bigger than I anticipated.  I used a pattern called 'Memories of Summer' by Suzanne Lyle.  I purchased the pattern from Ballarat Patchwork a couple of years ago.  The fabric was purchased at GJs in Brunswick.

The overall quilting design of butterflies was done by Lucy Thompson of Lasting Creations.
I enjoyed putting the blocks together but they were a little trickier to piece than anticipated because of the small squares and narrow rectangles.  The strong geometric lines and large central pieces make it a good quilt to make from fabric with a large print.  Easy to make smaller by only making as many blocks as you need.

What are we doing?

We have just got back into the swing of weekly meetings and here is what we are working on:

Leita is making "retro" covered coat hangers (we all have some of these lurking in our cupboards - and they do a really good job!). It took a while to track down a pattern but she is whipping them out now!

Michelle has had her red flowering gum tree cross stitch out and is finding it quite slow going as there are no large blocks of colour and the pattern has to be followed very closely.

Anne has been making some progress on her 9-patch swap quilt, which she is quilting in perle thread, and completed the first plain square motif on Friday.

Louise has had a change of plan with her lovely bright hand pieced hexagons and has decided to join them together and incorporate some black and white spot fabric for contrast.